Three Quotes, Three Numbers, No Explanation

Ask three different agencies how much does web design cost and expect three different answers, as a landscaper in Ashford found out the hard way last year with three quotes, £400, £1,200, and £4,500, for what sounded on the phone like roughly the same job. Nobody told him why they were so far apart, so he picked the middle one on gut feeling and hoped for the best. That gap exists because "web design" covers everything from a three page site built in a weekend to a twenty page e-commerce build with custom functionality, and most agencies quote a number without explaining what's actually driving it. This page breaks down what changes the price, so a quote can be judged against something real instead of guessed at.

The Real Drivers Behind The Number

Page Count Is The Biggest Single Factor

The number of pages a site needs is the single clearest driver of cost, a homepage, an about page, and one service page is a fundamentally smaller job than a homepage plus eight service pages plus a blog. Every additional page needs its own copy, its own structure, and its own schema markup, and that work scales roughly in a straight line rather than getting cheaper per page as the site grows. A sole trader with three core services genuinely needs less than a firm offering ten, and pricing that pretends otherwise is either overcharging the small job or underpricing the large one. Working out roughly how many pages a business actually needs, not wants, is the first real step in getting an accurate number.

Functionality Beyond Static Pages Changes The Job Entirely

A site that's just pages of text and images is a different build from one that needs a booking system, an online shop, or a custom quote calculator, and that difference shows up directly in the price. Static content is largely a fixed cost per page, while custom functionality is closer to software development, it needs planning, testing, and ongoing maintenance a simple page never will. A driving instructor needing a contact form and a testimonials page is a much smaller job than a retailer needing a working checkout with stock levels and payment processing built in. Knowing which category a project actually falls into before asking for quotes avoids comparing two genuinely different jobs against each other.

Real Pricing, Broken Down By Tier

The Actual Numbers, Not A Vague Range

MAI Solutions prices in three tiers based on page count, rather than one flat number that has to cover every job regardless of size. A smaller build, homepage plus one or two core pages, typically runs £300 to £600. A mid sized build, covering a homepage and three to five service or product pages with proper schema throughout, typically runs £700 to £1,100. A larger build, six or more pages with more involved structure, typically runs £1,200 to £1,750. These are one off build costs, and the exact figure within each tier depends on how much content needs writing versus how much the business already has ready to use.

Hosting Is Separate, And It's Ongoing

On top of the build cost, hosting runs £35, £50, or £65 a month depending on the tier and what level of ongoing support comes with it, covering the site staying online, secure, and backed up without the owner needing to think about it. This isn't bundled into the build price because it's a different kind of cost, a monthly service rather than a one off job, and separating the two makes it clear what's being paid for and when. A business can see exactly what a website costs to build once and what it costs to keep running every month after that, rather than one number that blurs the two together. The full breakdown by tier is on the website package calculator, so the actual figure for a specific page count is there rather than buried in a quote request.

A Cheap Quote And An Expensive One Can Both Be Wrong

A £200 quote for an eight page site with a booking system is a red flag, not a bargain, since the actual work involved can't realistically be done properly at that price, something's being skipped, usually schema, mobile testing, or basic security. A £3,000 quote for a three page static site with no special functionality is the opposite problem, paying agency overhead for a job that doesn't need it. The tier pricing above exists so a Kent business can sanity check a quote against what the job actually involves, rather than trusting a number with no explanation behind it. Full web design and SEO details, along with the complete range of services, are the places to check what's actually included at each level.

Common Questions

Does A Cheaper Quote Always Mean Lower Quality?

Not always, but it's worth asking exactly what's included before assuming a lower price is simply a better deal. A quote well below what the page count and functionality would normally cost is usually missing something, proper schema markup, mobile optimisation, or ongoing support, rather than the agency just being more efficient. Comparing what's actually included, not just the headline number, is the only reliable way to judge a quote.

Does Hosting Cost Extra On Top Of The Build?

Hosting is a genuinely separate, ongoing cost rather than a one off job, so bundling it into the build price would either inflate that number or hide what the monthly cost actually is. Keeping them separate means a business can see the true one off cost of the build and the true ongoing cost of running it, rather than one blended figure that's hard to compare against another quote. Most agencies that bundle the two are making the build price look smaller than it actually is over a year.

Can The Price Change Once The Build Has Started?

It shouldn't, if the page count and scope are agreed upfront, the price should hold unless the business asks to add pages or functionality partway through that weren't part of the original brief. A quote that keeps growing after the work's started, without the business having asked for anything extra, is a sign the initial scoping wasn't done properly. Locking the tier and page count in before work begins is what keeps the final invoice matching the original quote.

Is It Worth Paying More For A Bigger Site Than I Actually Need?

Generally no, a site padded with pages the business doesn't genuinely need costs more upfront and takes longer to keep updated afterwards, without adding real value. The right tier is the one that matches what the business actually offers and needs to communicate, not the one that looks the most substantial. A three page site that's properly built usually outperforms an eight page site with half the pages barely touched.

Is There An Easy Way To Tell Which Tier Fits?

The number of core services or products, plus whether any booking, payment, or custom functionality is needed, is usually enough to place a business in the right tier before ever asking for a formal quote. A sole trader with two or three services sits in the smaller tier, a business with five or six distinct services sits in the middle one, and anything requiring custom functionality or a larger page count moves into the top tier. The package calculator gives a working estimate against real figures rather than a guess.

None of this needs to stay a mystery, and a business asking what a website actually costs deserves a real answer broken down by what drives the number, not a single figure that has to cover every job regardless of size. Page count and functionality decide how much web design costs, not guesswork, and pricing that shows its working is pricing that can actually be trusted.